Yan Province, Leixia.
Dark clouds stretched ten thousand miles. The sky hung heavy and stifling, its light dimmed to the utmost. Though it was noon, the entire land of Eastern Yi lay as dark as night.
In the Great Marsh, one man stood alone.
Clad in deep-purple imperial dragon robes and a crown, he had a dragon's head and a human body, his majesty that of a deity. He stood within a giant's footprint, and sacred light overflowed into the Great Void and the mortal world.
Vast pressure swept through the surrounding heavens and earth, plunging all of Leixia Commandery into absolute silence. Wind and clouds stood still, rivers ceased to flow, and birds fell mute.
Xu Xuan stood motionless as a wooden puppet or stone statue. Only after a long while did he slowly exhale.
[Corpse Still, Dragon Revealed; silent as the abyss, thunder in his voice]
Violet lightning extended like branches through the dark clouds, vanishing in an instant. Thunder that shook heaven and earth followed. Under the lightning's bombardment, the sky shattered and reformed, and the once-motionless sea of clouds churned into a vortex.
Sheltered by Mount Tai, Eastern Yi had not faced such a terrifying thunderstorm in who knew how long. One by one, mortals approached the dust-covered temples of the Thunder Duke and lit incense.
The dried, barren Thunder Marsh sprang back to life. Rivers changed course, plants grew wildly, and countless dragon- and serpent-like thunderbolts merged into it, staining the whole of Leixia Commandery deep violet.
[Thunder-Shock: all things move, heaven and earth rise]
Thousands upon thousands of flood-dragon-like violet rays rose from the Great Marsh behind Xu Xuan, spiraling, leaping, and cycling.
His heartbeat resounded through the surroundings like war drums. Rocks trembled, and leaves fell from the trees.
Far to the south